Havre volleyball heads on the road to end the regular season

The regular season will come to an end for the Havre High volleyball this weekend. First, the Blue Ponies will head to Livingston for a match on Friday night. Then on Saturday, the Ponies will stay on the road with a match at Hardin. With these two matches being the final matches of the season, HHS head coach Stephanie Huse wants to see her team continue to play well.

"Our expectations are to finish our regular season strong," Huse said. "To make sure that we're doing everything fundamentally and as a team. Executing all of those pieces really well. Making sure they're sharp just to wrap up the season as we head into the postseason."

The Ponies will start the weekend on Friday night with a road match against Livingston. The two teams have already faced off this season at the tipoff tournament back in August. In those two sets, the Ponies won both, by scores of 20-11 and 20-9. However, Huse expects Livingston to be a much-better team this weekend.

"(Livingston) is a young team and they've steadily progressed throughout their season," Huse said. "They have a really good team chemistry and they work hard together so I expect that it'll be a good matchup."

The Ponies will continue their road trip on Saturday with a match against Hardin. The Ponies and Bulldogs have already gone at it this season with both teams getting the better of one another. In the tipoff tournament in August, Hardin won two sets by scores of 20-15 and 20-18 against Havre. But in the Blocktoberfest tournament in Butte earlier this month, Havre won 30-21, so the Ponies and Bulldogs should be evenly matched up this weekend.

"Hardin is one of the top teams, I believe, in the state," Huse said. "They are a talented team. They run a very quick offense and we're looking forward to playing them on their home floor. Just knowing what they're bringing is going to challenge us and make us better when we face them."

The Ponies have had a stellar season with an overall record of 12-0. Just last weekend, the Ponies won a back-to-back at home against Browning and Sidney. The Ponies won both matches in three sets, so they have not shown any signs of slowing down.

Several players for the Ponies will look to continue playing well this weekend. Last weekend, Avery Carlson recorded 15 kills and 24 digs against Browning and Sidney. Kyanna Jarvis also has 15 kills over the last two matches while Yelena Miller recorded 12 kills and five service aces last weekend.

Once this weekend is done, the Ponies will next play in divisionals in Sidney to begin the postseason. While the Ponies have already proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in Class A volleyball, they will look to continue playing well this weekend in order to be at the top of the game for the postseason.

"(We're) making sure that we're playing the type of volleyball that we're capable of playing, not worrying too much about our competition and just controlling what we can control," Huse said. "That's been our main focus this season and that's what I look for them to do as they wrap up the final week."

The HHS volleyball team will play Livingston on the road Friday night at 7 p.m. The Ponies will wrap up the weekend with a road match against Hardin on Saturday at 4 p.m.